Monday, July 27, 2009
Cancer Dance: Moved to Tears
It was my intention to write about the emotional response I had to a dance seen on a popular television show last week, but life has gotten in the way. And I guess that's a good thing considering that the reason I had such a visceral response to the dance was because I recently had cancer. I am a cancer survivor. That is amazing to say because everyday life has just continued: there is work to be done, diapers to be changed, food to cook, a husband to hang out with, a child to play with, friends to see, photos to be taken. Life has certainly gone on and I sometimes forget that the scariest moments of my life only occurred about 7 months ago. [I need to add that this dance also acutely shows the need of other people when going through something as scary as a cancer diagnosis. As Melissa is carried and lifted throughout the dance by Ade, so I was carried through the scary times by my husband, my friends, my family and by the beautiful smiling face of Claire. Cancer is scary, even if it's dubbed "the best kind to get" and you need support of loved ones to go through it. Thank you to all of you who rode through that time with me.]This dance was choreographed by Tyce Diorio whose family member had recently gone through breast cancer and it perfectly sums up, without saying a word, the experience of cancer: fear, anger, loss, weakness, hope, strength. I was sobbing after watching it, as were all of the judges. Amazing.
Labels: Thyroid Cancer
|Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Hooky Day Summer 2009
What a great idea I had! Why not, on one of Claire's daycare days, take an adult hooky day off from work!?And so we did. Yesterday. And it was awesome.
It went like this:
We dropped the Bear off at school, very excited as always since Tuesdays are water play days for her.
Huz dropped me off for a manicure and pedicure while he went to a book store and scored himself both a book and CD.
We went to a beer bar for lunch whice we haven't visited since Claire was born. I enjoyed a new beer - Highland Gaelic Ale - with my sandwich and Huz had some french beer with his pizza.
Then we went to see Harry Potter - a matinee! No kid! Great fun.
Then we went to Whole Foods to casually stroll around and shop.
It was a terrific day and we plan on doing it a few times a year. I highly recommend it for all couples with young children and full-time jobs! |
Monday, July 20, 2009
Weekendedness
I had a great weekend. I didn't travel or do anything exotic, I simply enjoyed spending time with my husband and daughter. Making it better was the amazingly cool weather we've been having. July and 72 degrees!? A miracle.Friday night was date night for Huz and I. While we had plans to go to dinner and see Harry Potter, we ended up just doing dinner because of the time. (When you have a toddler alarm clock that, lately, has been going off at 5:45a.m., you aren't inclined to stay out past midnight). And that's okay. Dinner at Brick Tops was wonderful. We enjoyed cocktails at the bar, some fresh guacamole as an appetizer, halibut with lump crab and butter herb sauce with pureed Parmesan cauliflower for me, and steak frites for Huz. We laughed, flirted, and enjoyed our time without a toddler to run after. We used to take dates for granted, but no longer.
Saturday was Claire and Mommy day, as that's Huz's library day to research and write. He rode off on his bicycle to Vanderbilt as Claire and I took off in the car with jogging stroller in the trunk to go for a run in a local park. Such mild weather makes for a happy running mom, even if she has to push nearly 50 lbs in front of her (~23 pounds of kid and probably as much for the stroller). We relaxed in the grass after our few miles out on the trail and while I did sit ups on the sidewalk, Claire decided it would be fun to climb aboard and ride on my stomach. I persisted in my workout and got called a "dedicated mother" by some passersby. We went home and I tried out a kid-carrying backpack for the first time. While Claire rode I clipped some weeds in the yard. Then we fed our out-of-town friends' cats and picked up some burgers for a front yard picnic. After Claire's 2 1/2 nap, we headed off to a girlfriend's "Blessingway." (Have you heard of this? I hadn't either, but it's basically an alternative to a baby shower - one without gifts that focuses instead on friendship, community, and well wishes/prayers for the mother and father to be. This particular friend plans to have this child (her 2nd) at home with a midwife. So she needs these well wishes and prayers! I took lots of photos during the proceedings which included making a bead necklace for her and painting her round stomach with henna. I'll show some after I process them.)
Sunday was family day. After church and a THREE hour nap (!!) we went on a family hike at Lake Radnor. Something really touched me on this hike, other than Claire running madly down the forest path with pure glee. It was when she looked behind her at one point and called out "Daddy!?" and his response was "I'm right here, Claire. I'm always right here." It was beautiful to me because it's true. He is always right here - for her, for me. He's faithful and dedicated and I fell in love with him all over again at that moment. After getting back home and getting the kiddo in bed, Huz and I enjoyed a lovely dinner out on the cool patio. Candles flickered as we ate meatball and zucchini kebabs, polished off a bottle of red Zin, and dove into dessert. It was a great time of bonding and connecting as a couple.
Random video taken on my phone.
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Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Toddlerisms
"Cambie! Hush!""All done, milk."
"All done. Wash up!"
"Daddy. Work."
"All done, sauce."
"Yeah."
"Keen up!"
"Mommy bye bye"
"Care nigh, night."
"More, more chicken."
"More meat!"
"Wha 'sat?" (repeat this about a million times to get the full effect.)
Saying "amen" at the end of a story instead of "the end."
Singing along with me every night to the night time song I made up when she was an infant.
Saying "amen" with me after her night time prayer.
Shouting "yay!" at the end of the hymn at church so loudly that the Rector chuckles and incorporates a "yay" in his benediction. |
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Photo Friday: Eyes Plus Dress Up Video
Yeah, yeah. I know it's Sunday and I haven't posted anything in a while (like our fun Friday last week when we took Claire swimming in a huge pool with friends and their toddler, then how we took her on a pontoon boat for the first time (she hated the life vest, but she had no choice), then how we all gorged ourselves on some local BBQ. Yum. I also haven't blogged about my house boating adventure I just had with a co-worker friend, which entailed drinking overly sweetened girly drinks, jet skiing up to 51 miles an hour, and a blast from the past with a childhood game: Pig Mania or, as my other friend who brought one calls it: Pass the Pig.)Anyway. I saw the Photo Friday topic and knew I had the perfect photo to share - I just took it last week and I adore these eyes.
This one is cute too.
And check out the dress up that occurred last week as Claire "helped" me clean out her old clothes. She's been wearing the back pack ever since.
Oh, and the reason this video sucks so much is that Claire insists on seeing herself, so I have to turn the viewer around and I video tape blind.
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Saturday, July 4, 2009
Fog So Dense It Reminds Me of a Scene From True Blood
My newest TV addiction is True Blood. Although I'm not typically a fan of horror/vampire shows, I love the combination of dark and evil right along side the sexy and beautiful (I mean, come on ladies, have you ever seen such hot vampires!? Sweet, conflicted Bill Compton = swoon. Evil yet pretty Sheriff Eric Northman = rrawr). The aesthetic is gloomy and hangs heavy, much like the photos I took in my backyard the other night during a particularly humid evening. My lens immediately fogged up making the scene much more gloomy than it was, but I love the mood they effect. I didn't edit these at all - they simply fogged by nature.
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Rhubarb Cruncher & The Hand Appliqued Shirt
This is Claire.
See what she does with a fresh basket of CSA produce without any prompting from us.
I don't know, but I think someone likes rhubarb!
I decided to get my crafty on and make Claire a t-shirt. It was a simple, cheap project and I'm thrilled with the results.
Ingredients:
t-shirt from Babies R Us for 50% off = $3
white embroidery thread from Michael's = $0.35
embrodery hoop (cuz I used them all up for her room) = $1.99
leftover fabric scraps = free
time it took = 3-4 hours
Results:
CUSTOMIZED CUTENESS!
We interrupt this photo shoot to have a temper tauntrum.
Okay. We're better now.
(In my defense, I have to tell you how hard it is to photograph
Labels: Applique, Claire, Craft, Rhubarb
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